Skinny: The Panthers traded away two of the remaining
skilled players they had left when they dealt Keith Ballard and Nathan Horton
this offseason.Now they’re left with
Tomas Vokoun and very little else.Vokoun has enjoyed a tremendous resurgence with Florida for the simple reason that he’s
finally been able to stay healthy.He’ll
keep the Panthers in a lot of games, but won’t be able to save them from this
lost season.The Panthers have two
offensive threats, Stephen Weiss and Michael Frolik, and a third, David Booth,
who is already having major concussion issues in his young career.Outside of that, they are woefully short up
front.The Panther D is relatively
young, but certainly better than the offense.Bryan McCabe keeps hanging around and is still productive, and Dmitri
Kulikov is really coming into his own.Dennis Wideman came over in the Horton deal and is certainly a good
player, but the Panthers were foolish to trade away one of their only talented
forwards, as enigmatic as he may have been.

Fact or Fiction: Chris
Higgins will rediscover his offensive touch this season.

Fiction.Higgins was a huge disappointment for both
the Rangers and Flames last season.He’s
still a solid third liner, capable of a checking forward role and great work on
the penalty kill.But Higgins was a
promising candidate for a string of 20-goal seasons before his scoring touch
vanished.Injuries played a part, but
Higgins seems to have no idea how to put the puck anymore.

#14 New York
Islanders

Skinny: Some think the Islanders are a dark horse
this season, but they just don’t have enough talent or experience to avoid the
cellar.When P.A. Parenteau has a
legitimate chance to be your top line winger, you’re in trouble.The Islanders chances also took a huge hit
when Kyle Okposo and Mark Streit suffered long-term injuries.Of course, the perennial question for the
Islanders is in goal, where Rick DiPietro must stay healthy.The Islanders have actually done alright in
recent years with a hodge-podge of journeymen netminders, but they’d be foolish
to expect Dwayne Roloson to be a consistent starter this season.The Islanders’ D is serviceable, but they’re
sorely lacking talent up front.

Fact or Fiction: John
Tavares will follow in Steven Stamkos’ footsteps en route to a monster
sophomore season.

Fiction.Tavares tallied 20 points in the season’s
final 20 games, so many are drawing the parallel.But Tavares has two things working against
him: he’s simply not on the same level as Stamkos as a natural goal-scorer, and
he has no help.Stamkos had Martin St.
Louis and Vincent Lecavalier feeding him one-timers on the Lightning power
play.Tavares will have Doug Weight and
possibly Trent Hunter.

#13 Carolina
Hurricanes

Skinny: The up-year/down-year pattern of the
Hurricanes over the last decade is befuddling.Carolina
didn’t necessarily blow up its core, but most of the key veterans of the last
few years are now gone, and the Hurricanes have reloaded with young
players.It’s always hard to project how
quickly a young team like this will develop chemistry and an identity.Nevertheless, the Hurricanes have always been
tough to play against.They lack top
talent up front, but have enough mid-level scorers to make them difficult to
defend.They are more solid on the blue
line and in goal with the good-but-not great Cam Ward.It will be interesting to see what kind of
production Carolina
gets from young talents Jamie McBain, Jeff Skinner and Brandon Sutter.

Fact or Fiction:
Skinner belongs in the NHL

Fact.Skinner proved throughout the preseason
and at the Traverse City Tournament that the game is not too fast for him.The big issue surrounding him at the June
draft was his skating ability, and if anything, that appears to be a
strength.He’s making people take notice
every time he’s on the ice and is a dark horse for the Calder Trophy.

#12 Toronto
Maple Leafs

Skinny: Brian Burke’s plan for rebuilding the Leafs
is progressing nicely.He’s built an
extremely solid blue line, has two decent goalies, and has accrued a few nice pieces
up front.Burke has always been a
believer in building from the net out, and he’s done a very good job in Toronto.Jonas Gustavssonwas
up and down in his rookie year, but much of it was out of his control.If he struggles, the Leafs have an extremely
solid alternative in the still-solid J.S. Giguere, although he had problems of
his own last year.Even if the Leafs
finally deal Tomas Kaberle, they’ll have six very good NHL defensemen.Burke has accumulated a surplus on the blue
line and can now pick and choose who to keep and who to move for other
assets.The Leafs are certainly lacking
firepower up front, but for a team in transition that’s to be expected.Phil Kessel is one heckuva goal-scorer, and
he’ll need to be because he won’t be getting much help.

Fact or Fiction: Dion
Phaneuf will make a good captain.

Fact.Phaneuf went from Norris Trophy candidate
to run out of town in Calgary
seemingly overnight.His head didn’t
seem to be on straight the last couple seasons, but Phaneuf is still a key
veteran for this young team.He’ll need
to return to form to be a successful leader, but Phaneuf still has the natural
talent to be a top defender in the NHL.

#11 Montreal
Canadiens

Skinny: The Canadiens really overachieved in the
playoffs last season, but without a little luck at the end of the regular
season they wouldn’t have made the playoffs in the first place.The biggest reason for their shocking
success, Jaroslav Halak, was sent packing to St. Louis.Montreal
must now count on Carey Price and an undersized group to match last season’s
success.The Canadiens will really miss
Andrei Markov for the first part of the year.But, it will be fun to watch P.K. Subban develop, and Montreal has several other solid defensemen.Up front, Mike Cammalleriis
the engine that makes the Canadiens go.He’ll be good for 30 goals, but Montreal
could use another scorer.Tomas Plekanec
was a good re-signing, but Scott Gomez is a shell of himself.In the end, Montreal got a lot of luck last year and it
shouldn’t have messed with that by dealing Halak.

Fact or Fiction: Carey
Price is prepared to be Montreal’s
No. 1

Fiction.This is the question that will define Montreal’s season.They made a horrible decision by keeping Price
instead of Halak and will pay the…price.Carey just seems to fall victim to the pressure of Montreal’s expectations way too easily and
his confidence is easily shattered.He
may yet succeed in the NHL, but I doubt it will be in the bleu, blanc, et rouge.

#10 Tampa
Bay Lightning

Skinny: The Lightning made two big additions in Simon
Gagne and Dan Ellis.Mike Smith has been
a very average goalie, so bringing in Ellis to handle the starting job

was a wise move.Gagne will partner with Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin
St. Louis in a star-laden offense.The
top two lines for Tampa
Bay will be very
difficult to stop but they do lack depth.On the blue line, much will depend on Victor Hedman’s development.He was kind of quiet last year but seems like
a likely candidate to break out this season.

Fact or Fiction:
Stamkos is on the same level as Alex Ovechkin

Fact.Stamkos and Ovechkin are now the two
unquestioned best goal-scorers in the league.Stamkos is impossible to defend because he has a wicked release,
especially on one-timers, that is made even more potent because opponents can’t
cheat over to him as much as they’d like with St. Louis or Lecavalieron
the other side.Stamkos will have
another monster season.

#9 Ottawa
Senators

Skinny: Ottawa
has done a great job over the last decade moving out a couple players here and
there when the time is right but still remaining a decent team the whole way
through.They’re not a true contender,
but Ottawa will
hang around.The biggest problem for Ottawa is the inconsistency
of the goalies.They get away with it
because there are three guys who can rotate in, but Ottawa would be a solid playoff team if it
could only get a consistent clear starter.Sergei Gonchar will be a huge addition for the Senators especially on
the power play.Along with Erik
Karlsson, the Senators will have two very good puck-moving defensemen.Up front the Senators will have nice balance
as always.They can get scoring from a
variety of different sources and are a gritty group.

Fact or Fiction: Daniel
Alfredsson is ageless

Fact.Alfredsson has been around forever and still
seems to be getting better every year.He’s still good for 70 points every season and is an invaluable leader.He’s really Ottawa’s version of Pavel Datsyuk.Alfredsson is one of the game’s true
treasures, and isn’t going anywhere soon.

#8 Atlanta
Thrashers

Skinny: Everyone talks about the poaching of the
Blackhawks by Atlanta,
but it was the Ilya Kovalchuk deal that made it all possible.Kovalchuk was obviously a goner, and Atlanta did a fantastic
job in getting two impact players, Niclas Bergfors and Johnny Oduya, plus a
host of picks and prospects.They were
able to turn much of that into the haul from Chicago, Andrew Ladd, Brent
Soepel, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd and Ben Eager.Atlanta
basically turned its one star into a ton of impact players, and that’s how
smaller teams have to do business.That
fantastic job should be enough to get the Thrashers into the playoffs.They’ll have to be careful with goalie Chris
Mason, as he can’t handle a huge workload, so they’ll need to use Ondrej Pavelec early and often.Look for a big season
from Evander Kane.

Fact or Fiction: The Thrashers should deploy Dustin Byfuglien on
defense

Fiction. The idea of having an offensive threat on the back end is
proving irresistible for Atlanta,
but Byfuglien is much better at forward.He’ll never be as productive as he was during the playoffs, but he’s
still a bruising power forward.The
Thrashers don’t have a whole lot of experience up front and Byfuglien would be
a calming centerpiece to the offense.

#7 Buffalo
Sabres

Skinny: The Sabres have been a pretty good team for
quite a while, but can’t seem to get over the proverbial hump.Obviously, they’re set in goal with USA goalie Ryan
Miller.But they’re lacking quality
depth on defense, even with sophomore Tyler Myers on his way to stardom.Up front, everyone is expecting big things from
Tyler Ennis, and his emergence has really given the Sabres three quality scoring
lines.Buffalo has never really had top talent, but
the Sabres make their living by playing solid, responsible team hockey.They’re not quite good enough to beat any of
the Eastern Conference’s five giants in a seven game series, but on a given
night the Sabres can beat anyone.

Fact or Fiction: Ennis
is bucking the trend and final proof that small players can succeed in the NHL

Fact. In the new
NHL, it’s quite obvious that skill is more important than size.But no one knew right away quite how little
size was going to matter.Small players
have to bring a high intensity level and have no fear, but they can absolutely
thrive in the NHL today.Ennis has a
great motor, is very fast, and has plenty of skill.He’s basically the prototype for what little
guys must aspire to be.

#6 New York
Rangers

Skinny: See Rangers preview coming in a bit!

#5 Pittsburgh
Penguins

Skinny: Everyone knows what the Penguins are capable
of come playoff time, but Pittsburgh
will struggle with its lack of depth up front over the course of an 82-game
season.With Jordan Staal out the Pittsburgh offense really
consists of two players.All-world
players, but still, that’s just not enough scoring on most nights.The good news for Pittsburgh is that the defense has undergone
a tremendous upgrade.Paul Martin and ZbynekMichalekwere
fantastic signings, and give the Penguins a great backbone for years to
come.Marc-Andre Fleury continues to be
overrated, but the Penguins have proven they don’t really need a superstar in
net

Fact or Fiction: Evgeni
Malkin will have a bounce back season

Fact.After two 100+ point seasons, Malkin fell to
just 77 points least year.But he missed
time due to injury and was never quite right.Malkin is often overshadowed by Sidney Crosby, but on his own Malkin is
one of the best players in the world.He’ll remind everyone of that this season.

#4 Philadelphia
Flyers

Skinny: Last year’s Eastern Conference Champions have
talent across the board, but as always, uncertainty in goal could derail
them.Michael Leighton’s injury could
keep him out for some time and the Flyers will be forced to rely on the
untested Sergei
Bobrovsky.Philadelphia dealt one of its integral pieces
in Simon Gagne but was able to replace him with Nik Zherdev and some younger
players.The Flyers could easily have
seven 20-goal scorers this season.Led
by Chris Pronger, the Flyers have a nice mix of skill, tenacity and leadership
on defense.This team is once again made
for a playoff run.

Fact or Fiction: Claude Giroux will score 25 goals.

Fact.Giroux has just scratched the surface of his talents;
he could score 30 this year.His 10
playoff goals were no fluke, Giroux has a nose for the net and the puck seems
to find him in the offensive zone.

#3
Boston Bruins

Skinny:The big
problem with the Bruins last season was their inability to put the puck in the
net.Add in Tyler Seguin and Nathan
Horton, and you’ve done a nice job addressing your problems.The Bruins are now extremely deep up front
and should have no problem outscoring opponents.The Zdeno Chara led defense is very strong
and goalie Tukka Rask could be a Vezina candidate this season.The Bruins have done a very nice job building
a deep lineup top to bottom, not unlike the Blackhawks of last year, and could
be poised for a deep playoff run.

Fact or Fiction: Seguin will make a bigger impact than Taylor
Hall this season

Fact.The Bruins won’t really need Seguin to lead them, which will make it very
easy for him to slowly grasp the NHL.Of
course, by all accounts Seguin’s
maturity is phenomenal and he’s ready to star in the NHL right away.He could be on the Bruins’ top line by the
playoffs.

#2 New Jersey Devils

Skinny: The Devils are absolutely loaded at every
position and have clearly positioned themselves for one or two more runs while
Martin Brodeur is still effective.New Jersey’s old trap
system has given way to a much more exciting style of play.They’re still as good at protecting a lead as
anyone, but the Devils can score plenty now as well.The addition of Anton Volchenkov will pay
huge dividends for New Jersey, and a full
season from Ilya Kovalchuk will be a boon to New Jersey’s offense.He’s been on a line with Travis Zajac and
Zach Parise, a trio that looks poised to put up video game numbers.

Fact or Fiction: The Devils will move Jamie Langenbrunner
to create cap room

Fiction.There have been plenty of whispers about Langenbrunner
being moved to the Avalanche in the last few weeks, but I can’t imagine that
happening.Langenbrunneris the team’s captain for a reason; he is the
heart and soul of the team.Langenbrunner
is a force on both ends of the ice and is one of the team’s most important
players.

#1 Washington Capitals

Skinny: The whole cast returns and is as good as ever.Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nicklas Backstrom
and Mike Green will put up huge numbers up front.The pressing question for Washington is how youngsters John Carlson,
Karl Alzner, Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth respond to bigger roles.Each will be counted on heavily and must be
ready to go in time for the playoffs.Washington will have
time to decide whether Varlamov or Neuvirth is a better choice to be the
starter because neither will hold the Capitals back from winning the
conference.

Fact or Fiction: The Capitals are the Eastern
Conference’s version of the San Jose
Sharks

Fiction.It’s too early to make this comparison just
yet.The Capitals will cruise through
the regular season with ease again, and maybe after one more playoff failure we
can start drawing legitimate parallels.Washington is an
ultra-skilled group but has been missing some unidentifiable aspect that has
stopped them from winning it all.It’s
becoming a pretty big monkey on Washington’s
back, but they deserve one more chance.